Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan began a rare visit to neighbouring Iraq on Monday aiming to reset rocky bilateral ties with a raft of deals covering energy, trade and security cooperation against Kurdish PKK militants.
\nErdogan\u2019s long-awaited visit is the first by a Turkish leader since 2011 and follows years of strained relations as Ankara ramped up cross-border operations against PKK militants based in mountainous, mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.
\n\u201cPresident Erdogan stated that Turkey had expectations from Iraq in the battle with the PKK terrorist organisation, that Iraq must eradicate all sorts of terror,\u201dthe Turkish presidency said in a statement after Erdogan\u2019s talks with Iraqi President President Abdul Latif Rashid.
\nRashid \u2013 the most senior Kurdish official in Iraq \u2013 said Iraq supported joint work to fight terrorism and was against its territory being used to attack any neighbours, the Iraqi presidency said. But Rashid also said Iraq opposed any attacks on its territory.
\nIraq has said Turkish operations violate its sovereignty and have killed civilians. Ankara says it must protect itself against the PKK, which Turkey and its Western allies designate as a terrorist group.
\nTurkey plans a new swoop on the militants this spring and has sought Iraqi military cooperation, in the form of a joint operations room, as well as recognition by Baghdad of the PKK threat.
\nCooperation on big economic projects are also on the table.
\nIraq last year launched a $17 billion Development Road project, which seeks to turn the country into a transit hub, connecting Asia and Europe with a link between Iraq\u2019s Grand Faw Port in the oil-rich south and Turkey in the north.
\nWATER
\nBaghdad is also seeking a deal to secure a larger share of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, both of which originate in Turkey and are the main source of freshwater in drought-stricken Iraq.
\nRashid told Erdogan that Iraq was entitled to its \u201cfair share\u201d of that water, the Iraqi presidency said.
\nIraqi and Turkish officials said more than 20 memorandums of understanding would be signed during Erdogan\u2019s one-day visit.
\nBilateral trade was worth $19.9 billion in 2023, down from $24.2 billion in 2022, according to official Turkish data. In the first three months of 2024, Turkish exports to Iraq rose by 24.5%, while imports fell by 46.2%.
\nErdogan is set to meet Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad, then travel to Erbil, the provincial capital of Iraq\u2019s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, for talks with Iraqi Kurdish officials.
\nThe PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed since then.
\nSince 2019, Turkey has conducted a series of cross-border operations in northern Iraq against the PKK dubbed \u201cClaw\u201d.
\n(Reuters)Water. Turkish President, Iraq, bilateral ties, energy, trade, security cooperation, Kurdish PKK militants, cross-border operations, joint work, fight terrorism, attacks on territory, economic projects, Development Road project, water, Tigris and Euphrates rivers, freshwater, drought-stricken Iraq, memorandums of understanding, bilateral trade, exports, imports, Prime Minister, Erbil, Kurdistan region, armed conflict, cross-border operations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq to improve relations and discuss deals on energy, trade, and security cooperation against Kurdish PKK militants. Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s expectations for Iraq to help in the battle against the PKK. Cooperation on economic projects and securing water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were also discussed. Bilateral trade between Turkey and Iraq was worth .9 billion in 2023. Erdogan also planned to meet with Iraqi Kurdish officials during his visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,7469,3503,403,383,1234,7459,7453,7466,7129,5334,3475,7456,2369,3818,7461,2176,7464,7460,358,7467,420,201,4818,1606,7279,988,7458,7463,1605,3966,6469,7457,7455,178,7468,185,7465,3504,5076,4941,7452,1220,1021,4843,4170,1792,4753,5402,3522,5687,470,827,7454,1535,1827,1026,3274,382,1846,7462,1006,1182,177,4522,4100,962,18],"class_list":["post-9190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-armed-conflict","tag-arms","tag-asia","tag-attack","tag-attacks","tag-attacks-on-territory","tag-bilateral-ties","tag-bilateral-trade","tag-border","tag-civilians","tag-cooperation","tag-cross-border-operations","tag-data","tag-development","tag-development-road-project","tag-drought","tag-drought-stricken-iraq","tag-economic-projects","tag-energy","tag-erbil","tag-erdogan","tag-europe","tag-expectations","tag-exports","tag-fair-share","tag-fight","tag-fight-terrorism","tag-freshwater","tag-imports","tag-iraq","tag-joint-operations","tag-joint-work","tag-kurdish-pkk-militants","tag-kurdistan","tag-kurdistan-region","tag-main","tag-memorandums-of-understanding","tag-military","tag-oil","tag-organisation","tag-pkk","tag-port","tag-presidency","tag-president","tag-president-tayyip-erdogan","tag-prime-minister","tag-project","tag-projects","tag-relations","tag-rivers","tag-road","tag-security","tag-security-cooperation","tag-spring","tag-statement","tag-talks","tag-terror","tag-terrorism","tag-threat","tag-tigris-and-euphrates-rivers","tag-trade","tag-travel","tag-turkey","tag-turkish-president","tag-visit","tag-water","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n